1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for monitoring the process of toothbrushing and, more particularly, relates to a toothbrush that is electrically connected to signalling means to measure various factors relating to the process of toothbrushing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cervical abrasion of teeth is the pathologic wearing away of tooth substance through some abnormal mechanical process. Abrasion usually occurs on the exposed root surfaces of teeth, but may be seen elsewhere as well. Although modern dentifrices are not sufficiently abrasive to damage intact enamel severely, remarkable wear of cementum and dentin can occur if the toothbrush is improperly used. Cervical abrasion has been found to occur in a high proportion of dental patients and is usually caused by improper brushing. In some instances, abrasion of a patient's teeth will be much more severe on one side of the patient's mouth than on the other side. The risk of serious abrasion increases as the gingiva recedes to expose the cementum enamel junction. However, abrasion can still occur when the cementum enamel junction is covered by the gingiva. As a result, there has been a serious need for some time for a device and method for monitoring the process of toothbrushing.
It is known to have toothbrushes that contain a spring and are designed to flex when a certain level of pressure is exerted onto a head of the toothbrush. Further, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,212 issued on Mar. 3, 1981 to Fujita and being entitled "Training Appliance for Toothbrushing", it is known to have a toothbrush where pressure sensitive elements, such as electrodes are buried in the stem of a toothbrush and connected to an audio or visual signal when a particular pressure has been exceeded. However, these previous devices only measure pressure at a particular instant; or, they only measure a maximum pressure; or, they measure pressure in one dimension only; or, they cannot be used to monitor the severity of a toothbrushing problem; or, they cannot measure pressure continuously; or, they cannot be used to establish guidelines for proper toothbrushing; or, they cannot be used to properly monitor other factors that are important in toothbrushing such as frequency (i.e. number of strokes per second), duration and type of brushing strokes; or, they monitor only one type of brushing stroke; or, they monitor a brushing stroke at a particular instant of time; or, they are not designed to be used for more than one person; or, they do not have sufficient versatility; or, they are not sensitive enough to measure small amounts of pressure; or, they cannot be readily calibrated.